A Ukrainian mother is worried that she and her three children will end up homeless when they arrive in Ireland next week. 

Ukrainians have been reading about the lack of accommodation in Ireland on Telegram and those planning a move feel extremely apprehensive. 

Alex, from Kherson in the east of the war-torn country, told Newstalk that she and her family will soon leave Ukraine.

“I am due to arrive in Ireland next week with my three young children; I have two boys and a girl under the age of 12,” she said. 

“I’m worried now that we could end up homeless or end up sleeping on the floor of the airport when we come to Dublin”.

Alex has travelled over 1,000km in recent weeks in order to get out of Crimea and says for a long time her family could not afford to leave Kherson.

"It took us months to scrape together the money, for months we have been living in our basement," she said. 

“We are now currently in Belarus after travelling thousands of kilometers to get out of Kherson. It was not safe there”.

. 05th Jan, 2023. House in Kherson completely destroyed by a Russian bomb. (Photo by Ximena Borrazas/SOPA Images/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa USA/Alamy Live News

The Department of Integration has been upfront that there is a shortage of accommodation and that new arrivals could end up homeless.

The Capuchin Day Centre, a homeless charity based in Dublin, has been told by the Department that they may have a number of refugees and asylum seekers looking to use their services in the coming days.

“We have been contacted by the Department of Integration who have told us there may be an influx of refugees and asylum seekers in the coming weeks,” Alan Bailey, manager of the centre, said.  

“We are prepared for it, we will increase the numbers of dinners and that”.

'Not genuine refugees'

The mother-of-three also said she thinks some Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Ireland are not ‘genuine’ as their hometowns are not on the frontline. 

“A lot of people left places like Lviv, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, Rivne and Ivano-Frankivsk; for me these are not genuine refugees,” she said. 

“They are taking up accommodation across Europe from people who are genuine and fleeing Eastern Ukraine”.

The Irish Red Cross said no refugees or asylum seekers should end up on the streets and that empty buildings in industrial estates could be used for accommodation.

Main image: Ukrainian refugees in the Aviva. Photo: Donal McNamee/Business Post